THE VETERAN RESERVE. T HE speech made by Mr. Haldane at
the Mansion House on Tuesday in regard to the Veteran Reserve gave one more proof of the gain to the nation of having at the War Office a man of wide mind and liberal spirit, and one who is sympathetic to new developments and new ideas. Without being in the very least open to the charge either of flightiness or fidgetiness—defects which, in a War Minister, are capable of ruining any army—Mr. Haldane has shown again and again that he is willing to give development to sound ideas, even though they may be novel and difficult. Though we differ, and differ strongly, from him in regard to the question of universal military training, which, in our opinion, is the necessary and essential coping-stone to the Territorial system with which he has endowed the country, we have never failed to realise nor to acknowledge his great services in the cause of national defence. By establishing the County Associa- tions and the Territorial Army he has given the nation a machine which is capable of handling schemes and doing work which could never have been done at the War Office. We say this not because we have any want of faith in the central institution—we believe it, at the present moment, to be doing its main work with very great ability—but because there are certain things which it is not capable of handling, and yet which cannot be neglected without loss to the nation. An example of the advantages which come from the establishment of the County Associations is to be seen in the Veteran Reserve. The Veteran Reserve, or, to give it the more explanatory name, the Register of Trained Men not now connected with any military unit, could not be profitably organised at he centre, but only by bodies at the circumference, and so In touch, or capable of getting into touch, with the civilian population. For this reason the scheme for forming a Veteran Reserve must have proved sterile if there had been no appropriate machinery to deal with it. As it is, we believe that it will prove in the hands of the County Asso- ciations capable of producing a military asset of the first importance.
The main motive of Mr. Haldane's speech at the Mansion House was to announce certain changes and developments in the scheme for the Veteran Reserve which the Army Council have decided on since their original adoption of the proposal. The carefully-prepared Memorandum of the Army Council which was read by Mr. Haldane will, we trust, make it clear to the County Associations what is the duty before them. The Memorandum strikes exactly the right note when it begins by declaring that the Veteran Reserve is " primarily a register of trained officers and men organised under the County Associations wills a view to increasing the military resources for national defence." To put the matter in another way : the essential object of the Veteran Reserve is not, as some people seem to imagine, to form a club or society of old soldiers, but rather to create what we may call a cistern or reservoir of all the trained men in the country into which the military authorities will be able to dip at some moment of extreme national peril according to the needs of the hour and also according to the capabilities of the individuals composing the Veteran Reserve. For ourselves we cannot doubt that when the registers of the Veteran Reserve are formed throughout the country, and number, as they should ultimately number, some 150,000 to 200,000 men, it will be recognised that the main use of the Reserve will be, if invasion should occur or be im- minent, to provide men to strengthen the Territorial Field Army. That the Veteran Reserve will be fully capable of doing this is shown by the example which we already possess of a Veteran Reserve in being. The County of Surrey, as our readers know, has already formed a Veteran Reserve of some 2,500 men, organised into local companies. Of these men more than half are under fifty years of age. Some 45 per cent. are ex-Regulars, and nearly half of the total are men who have had war service either in the Regulars or in the Volunteer field companies and other auxiliary forces which fought in South Africa. If the enemy landed to-morrow, the Surrey Veteran Reserve could supply the equivalent of three battalions to do that duty which, under the penalty of felony, the State already imposes upon all male citizens, though for the vast majority it neglects to provide them with the training to carry it out—the duty of repelling the King's enemies.
An example of the new developments in the Force set forth in the Memorandum of the Army Council is that in future there is to be no age limit in regard to the Reserve. This we feel sure, from the general tenor of the Memo- randum, is not meant in any sense to derogate from the military character of the Reserve. Its object is a double one. In the first place, there is no reason why a man who is hale and hearty should be turned out of the Veteran Reserve merely because he is fifty. There are many men of fifty-five and sixty who are better capable of active service than others of fifty. Another advantage of abolish- ing the age limit is that it will be possible to give greater development to what we may call the old soldier side of the reserve if the men over fifty are not excluded. They will now be able to join and remain in the Veteran Reserve, even though their chief function may be to encourage the younger men and to maintain that sense of comradeship and esprit de corps which has proved so valuable an asset in the German organisations of old soldiers. It must never be forgotten, however, that the Veteran Reserve is not in any sense an Old Soldiers' Club. It is, and as we have said, it is declared by the Army Council to be, primarily a register of all the trained men in the country organised by the County Associations with a view to National Defence. If invasion takes place, the War Office will be able to ask and receive from the men on the register that full, free, and unrestricted service which is the essential condition of soldiership.
Another point which is emphasised, and rightly empha- sised, in the Memorandum is that in peace time no obliga- tion is imposed upon a member of the Veteran Reserve other than the registration of his name and address. The man who joins need not have any fear that his civil voca- tion and the need of winning his daily bread are ever to be interfered with by the fact that he has registered his name and address. But, though no obligations are undertaken
for peace, the obligations which will arise in case of imminent national peril, such as invasion, are clear enough and stern enough. But this, we are certain, will have no deterrent effect whatever on the recruiting of the Force. By registering his name and address the man puts himself, should an enemy land on these shores, absolutely at the disposal of the military authorities, though in peace time he may be unable to undertake even the slightest amount of military service. No one is wanted in the Veteran Reserve unless he is willing in case of invasion to make, if called on, the supreme sacrifice. By joining the Veteran Reserve men obey the call " Stand by to serve your country m case of invasion."
It is apparent from the Memorandum that in the future the War Office hope to give form and substance to that Territorial Reserve which they have already shadowed forth on paper. It will be a body with definite peace as well as war obligations, and they hope to attract into it the younger and more active portion of men who are now joining the Veteran Reserve. If they are successful in the organisation of a Territorial Reserve, none will be better pleased than those who have advocated the formation of the Veteran Reserve. For ourselves, however, we are very doubtful whether it will be found possible for any consider- able number of ex-Soldiers and ex-Volunteers and ex- Territorials to take the obligations of the Territorial Reserve. In most cases we expect it will be found that men will either prefer to remain in the Territorial Army in their full capacity, or else to leave it altogether and enter the Veteran Reserve. That, however, is a. matter for the future. The essential thing, and the first thing, is to get the whole of the trained men in the country registered in the Veteran Reserve. Then, as we have said, it will be possible to use the great reservoir thus formed in various ways.
Another plan which we think is likely to be of more practical importance is the proposal under which qualified ex-Regular soldiers are to be allowed to enlist into the Special Reserve. It is by no means unlikely that a certain number of the members of the Veteran Reserve whose civil obligations are not of a very exacting kind may like to join the Special Reserve ; if they do, they will certainly be doing a good service to their country, and will be providing a most valuable adjunct to that Force. Even if only eight thousand men were to do this out of the trained men in the country, the Special Reserve would be benefited. But if the Veteran Reserve, as we believe it will ultimately, reaches over 150,000 men, this would not mean much more than drawing five per cent. from the Veteran Reserve.
It is to be noted that the Memorandum states that it will not be possible to give uniforms to the members of the Veteran Reserve. That is a financial question which we do not propose to discuss. For ourselves we hold that it would be worth while for the War Office to issue a cheap uniform to the Veteran Reserve, and that the money would be well spent. We believe, for example, that if the War Office were to grant to each Association a sum of, say, four shillings a year for each member of its Veteran Reserve under sixty, it would be quite possible for the Association to make a financial scheme under which they would be able to provide a simple and useful uniform for their veterans. Four shillings a year means a pound in five years, and for one pound equipment could be provided. A sinking fund would be established in order that the £1 should be spent at once. But 4s. per man for 150,000 men would only mean £30,000 a year. As we have said, however, the War Office—which is responsible—must be left to decide the question as to the particular cases where they are justified in spending public money. We cannot help thinking, however, that it would be useful if the War Office were to approve a pattern of uniform for the Veteran Reserve. If that were done it is possible that some County Association might by the use of voluntary subscriptions equip its Reserve, and we should then be able to test whether the uniform, as many persons think, might not prove an exceedingly effectiverecruiting agent for the Veteran Reserve. Here, however, and also in the case of certain other privileges and benefits set forth in the Memorandum with a view of attracting men to the Veteran Reserve, we feel bound to say that we do not regard them as of prime importance. We have always held that men will not be and cannot be attracted into the Reserve by any hopes
of obtaining benefits, aad that it is a capital mistake to approach the matter on that side. It is the nature of the Englishman, if you offer him benefits, to look at them, consider them, criticise them, and, in all probability, grumble at them as not good enough. If, how- ever, you ask him not to receive an inadequate benefit, but to undertake an arduous duty, the situation changes in a moment. He will readily shoulder a duty and perform a sacrifice when he is utterly unmoved by an in- sufficient appeal to his pocket. Tell him it is his duty to do something, but that he cannot possibly get anything out of it, and if the duty is a real one you will get an instant response. The philosopher who told the founder of a new religion that the first thing he had to do was to ask some arduous act of self-sacrifice and self-abnegation from his followers knew the human heart. Patriotism is in its nature religious, and if men are to be moved on the patriotic side it will always be by the appeal of duty, and never by that of interest. We shall be told, perhaps, that we are talking sentimental nonsense. We can only point to what has happened in the case of the Surrey Veteran Reserve, the only Veteran Reserve of which there is practical experience. Those who raised that Force were most careful not to deceive any man in regard to it. When the men were asked to come forward and register their names and addresses, it was made absolutely clear to them that there was nothing whatever to be got out of the Reserve, and that no benefits would be obtained in registration, but that the obligation undertaken in case of a great national peril might be the greatest that any man could undertake. Yet this appeal was at once responded to. The only real obstacle was getting the fact that the Veteran Reserve existed to the knowledge of the men who were eligible.
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